Track laying and picking-up machine and method



Nov. 17, 1936. R'. STAUFFER 2,061,110

u TRACK LAYING AND'PICKING-UP MAGHINE AND METHOD 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledSept. 16, 1955 u HHPHW Y Nov. 17, 1936. l'2,061,110

TRACK LAYING AND PICKING-UP MACHINE AND METHOD R. STAUFFER 5sheets-sheet 2 Filed Sept. 16, 1935 Fys.

mf/V750,

Nov.V 17, 1936. R. sTAUr-'FER l 2,061,110

TRACK'LAYING AND PICKING-UP MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Sept. 16, 1935 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Mfrs/rra?,

Patented Nov. 17, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRACK LAYING ANDPICKING-UP MACHINE AND METHOD This invention is an apparatus to expeditethe handling and laying of railway ties and tracks, that is, rails,along a more or less graded bed.

It is an object to provide a simple, practical and ecient apparatus forspotting stacks of tiers of close, parallel ties along the bed and forbodily lifting individual tiers of ties from the spotted stack andlaying the ties on the bed in conventional pitch or spacing to receivethe steel rails, and to provide for placement of the rails on the laidties of a transferred tier.

An object is to provide means for the presentation of a stack in whichthe ties are compactly and uniformly arranged in tiers with as many tiesin a tier as are ordinarily used in one length of rail; the ties beingarranged transversely to the line of the track Way being laid, and thatbeing the meaning of the words transverse ties where hereinafteroccurring. And concurrently with the presentation or spotting of eachstack of ties rails, lying parallel to the trackway, are also presentedin a stack to be readily pulled onto the ties as fast as they are laidin corresponding bed length.

A further object is to provide for individual gripping of each tie in atier uppermost of the stack and the concurrent lifting of the whole tierand its transfer to the road bed and for the individual release of eachtie, and, further, means are provided to effect the shift of the tiegripping apparatus bodily so as to cause the ties to be uniformly spacedalong the bed in an amount or pitch according to the length of the railbeing employed.

It is also an object to provide a fixed set of tie gripping devices inthe form of individually operable tongs adapted to drop over and receivea full tier of the stacked ties, and further, to provide tongs whichhave means to compensate for reasonable variation in the length of theties.

The invention consists in certain advancements .in the method andapparatus of this art as set forth in the ensuing disclosure and having,with the above, additional objects and advantages as hereinafterdeveloped, and whose manner of operation and construction, combinationand detail of means, will be made manifest in the description of theherewith disclosed and illustrative embodiment; it being understood thatmodications, variations and adaptations may be resorted to within thescope, principle and spirit of the invention as it is more directlyclaimed hereinbelow.

Figure 1 is a schematic plan of apparatus used in the method,

Figure 2 is an elevation of apparatus in a step of the method.

Figure 3 is a sectional plan of the tie handling, tong frame, showing,in part, a gang of tie tongs, one of which is illustrated, in full, inopen position, and ready to be closed on the ends of a tie.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of a dolly with a full load of ties inorderly transverse arrangement, and above it the tie pick-up frame.

Figure 5 is a detail plan of one of the tie tongs in tripped,tie-gripping position, and

Figure 6 is a side elevation thereof, the tie frame being shown in crosssection.

Figure 7 is an end elevation of one of a pair of trucks forming a tiedolly, with a part of its cross-connection to its companion truck, and

Figure 8 is a detail of the hinged connection as attached to thecompanion dolly truck.

Figure 9 is a detail plan of means attached to a suitable tractor foreffecting the timed discharge of the ties individually from placed tieframe with its tier of ties.

Figure 10 is a perspective of a running tappet for manipulating the tietongs, and a clutch control device associated therewith.

An important object of the invention is to eliminate the requirement ofa railroad locomotive and its operating cost and crew for the merespotting of fiat cars, with rails and ties, for the erection oftemporary tracks in various fields of operation, of which only thecutting and transporting of lumber from the woods will be herementioned. Another object is to reduce the ordinary track handling crewand to greatly facilitate the work of laying the track on grade bed andits subsequent removal for use on another spur from the main line of thejob. Particularly it is an object to provide a method and apparatus inwhich a free running tractor provides the power and constitutes animportant element of the machinery of the apparatus.

In Fig. 1 broken-joint rails l and 2 have been laid and bridled on aspread of ties 3, on the last of which the rail 2 terminates. Accordingto the method hereof a flat car 4, of any suitable length has beenspotted on the end of rail l by means of a spotting cable 5 hitched at Eto the flat car and has been unhitched at 'l from a suitableselfpropelled tractor 8 and laid along the grade bed or right-of-way.

The flat car 4 is provided with a track 9, laid off-center, on which isa plurality of trucks IU connected cross-wise in pairs by rods Il hingedat one end to one truck, Fig. 8, and detachably connected, as by hookingat I2, to its companion truck, each pair forming a dolly readily movablealong the flat car tracks 9 toward the front end of the fiat car, thatis, toward the end of the dead end of road track I.

Each dolly (I0- lt I) has a set of inwardly folding posts I3, Fig. 4,whose upper ends are provided with suitable holding means I4 securableacross and removable from the top tier of a stack I5 of ties 3, theselatter all laid transverse to the line of the grade bed, for a purposelater disclosed. When a dolly at the spotting position IS, Fig. 1, hasb'een fully unloaded the posts and hold-down means are compacted alongthe relative truck II), the related trucks are disconnected at the rodsI I and the trucks are dropped over into the space between the tracks 9,on the flat car. The next following dolly-is then pushed up to thespotting position I6, is unloaded and is then pushed back on its tracksto clear the iirst tumbled dolly and is itself knocked down and tumbledbetween the tracks 9 so as to allow its following dolly to be pushedahead to spotting position I6 and unloaded, and pushed back and tumbledclear of the last tumbled dolly, and so on for each loaded dolly on theflat car 4.

Preferably each tier Il of ties 3 in a stack I5 is suiicient for thelaying of one rail I, and a suitable supply of rails is provided by arack of rails laid longitudinally on the flat beside the oiset flat cartrack 9. It will be seen that a very considerable length of trackage canbe laid on the grade bed from the supply of ties and rails on one flatcar 4.

An important feature of the invention is the method and means forpicking up a full tier of ties from the stack I5 on the spotted dolly,on the flat car, and for transferring the tier over to the dead end ofthe rail 2, Fig. l, (and repeating) and for the automatic dropping ofthe ties of the tier in succession and at given spacing or pitch of theties for reception of a rail, or rather, rails I and 2, in continuedbroken-joint fashion along the grade bed.

A tier pick-up frame consists of a pair of side members 20 havingpendant side anges 2| spaced in parallel to drop over the opposite endsof the ties of the uppermost tier in the stack and clear the same, forreasons stated later. The side members 20 are cross-connected in rigidmanner by suitable means such as cross-plates 22-23; the latter having apair of forwardly directed horns 24 to engage with and form guide andpositioning means on the legs of a boom 25 whose lower end is pivoted at26 on a hanger incorporated with or attached suitably to thetracvidually release the ties in timed and spaced order and includes agang of parallel tongs operatively mounted on the frame. Each tongincludes a pair of shanks 21 whose outer parts are slidably mounted inbearings 28 beyond which they have down turned bows 29 with sharppointed n'ibs 30 passing inwardly throughrespective flanges 2l at theopposite sides of the frame and spaced along the flanges so as to be ina position at about opposite the center of opposite ties of the tierdown onto which the frame is adapted to be lowered above a spotteddolly.

The Shanks 2'I of a pair of tongs extend inwardly from their bearings 23and have sliding collars v3| engaging expansion springs 32 supported. by

nuts 33 on the near ends of the shanks. The collars 3| are suitablyconnected to arms of levers 34 pivoted at 35 to swing about a verticalaXis on a frame piece 3S, of which there is one for each row of tonglevers 34. The tong levers 34 of a pair are connected at their innerends to links 37, which in turn are connected to the near ends of amaster lever 38swinging on a vertical pivot 39, of which a gang isprovided on the gang plate 43 of the pick-up frame.

A prominent feature of the invention is a means to eiect the mechanicalactuation of the several tongs in closing on or releasing theV ties. Inthis instance each lever 38 is provided with a see-saw tumbler 4I withbearing ends, one on each side of the pivot 39 of the lever and adaptedfor cooperative engagement with opposite inclined faces of a travellingtappet 42, Fig. 10, from the opposite ends of which extend a suitablecable 43 or its equivalent by which the tappet is pulled back and forthin a guide track 44 xed to or formingr a part of the pick-up frame.

One end of the cable 43 leads off to a control drum 45 on and powered bythe tractor 8 (that is, from its motor plant) and by which drum thecable is hauled in to cause the tappet 42 to run to the left hand (inthis embodiment) and swing the tumblers 4I so as to close the tong nibs35 onto the adjacent ends of ties of the uppermost tier of the stack atthe spotting position, after the pick-up frame has been loweredthereonto.

The handling of the pick-up frame is accom-l plished by means includinga suitable hitch plate 46 bridled to the frame and having a pulley 41receiving aA cable bight 48 connected to the boom` 25 and running over asheave 49 thereon and thence to a control drum 50 on the tractor. Aconventional rig 5I controls vertical swing of the boom on its basalpivot 26 in its actions toward or from the spotted flat car.

As so'on as the frame tongs have been closed on a tier of ties the frameis hoisted by its cable 48 as needed to clear the'posts I3 of thespotted dolly and then the boom is pulled up and the frame (Z2- 20) isdrifted over toward the legs of the boom to place the horns astride theoutside faces of the legs of the boom; the width of the lower portion ofthe boom being complementary' to the spacing of the horns so that theboom and horns coact to lguide the frame as it is lowered toward thebasal pivot of the boom and bring it into register with a means which isprovided for the purpose of successively dropping the ties from theframe and to effect the spacing of them along the grade bed to receivethe rails with the minimum of manual attention and labor in theirplacement.

One end of the tappet cable 43, Fig. 10, has an eye 52 which ispre-positioned in and by a box 53 on the front frame member 23, Fig. 9,as the tappet is run to its limit to the left when closing the tongs onthe ties. The lower edges of the horns 24 are recessed at 54 to receivestop andr `registering lugs 55 on the sides of the boom legs 25 so thatthe eye is automatically brought into place to receive one or another ofa series of hooks 56 xed in a row around the surface of a drum 5'Ihaving a drive shaft 58 here shown as coaxial with the boom pivot 26,and being rotative freely therein by a drive means which is preferablyso connected to the tractor traction means that as the tractor is backedaway from the position shown in Fig. 2, the tappet cable is hitched tothe drum 51 due to its rotation (in this adaptation clockwise).

,The drive means for'the drum'51 ishere shown as a sprocket and chaindevice 59 connecting the drive shaft 60 `of the tractor andthe shaft .58of the drum 51. Selective drive or free run of the drum is had by meansof a suitable clutch 6I on the shaft 58. It is understood that the drivedevice 59 will have such ratio to the speed of the tractor that the drumwill wind up the tappet cable at such rate as to properly release theties from the tongs and approximately correctly space them n the gradebed. The right hand travel of the tappet 42 across the frame and alongthe gang of tongs will cause the latter to open and release the ties insuccessionnbeginning at the left of. the frame and dropping the rst tienear the dead end of rail 2, Figf2, and so on until the last tie in theframe is dropped about `rail length away to the right.

As the last tie is dropped from the pick-up frame the tappet 42 hits aclutch lever 62,`Fig. 10, and throws open the clutch 6I thus freeing thedrum 51 and allowing this to free the eye 52 of the ta-ppet cable 43 sothat this can be shifted over to the left when the frame is swung overfor the pick-up of. the next tier of ties from a -dolly presented on thehat car 4. The clutch lever 262 is held open by a manually releasablehook latch 63, which is set by the tractor operator'in time for the nexttier of ties to be dropped.

The springs 32 of the tong Shanks 31 provide for effective gripping ofthe ties and compensate in reasonable variations in their lengths. Ihetongs are locked in gripping position vby automatic action of springs 64which act through levers 34 to press respective link joints 65 pastcenter line between the pivots 3Q, Vof levers 38, and the outer endpivots of the links 31; this locking action taking place as the tappet42 trips the tumblers 4I to close the tongs. Stops 66 limit lockingswing of the lever train of a tong.

Thev method is, therefore, as follows: Stacks of transverse ties intiers are laid upon movable dollies lll on a flat car 4 and a rack ofrails is built up with the rails lengthwise along the row of dollies.The flat car is then shifted to or spotted at the dead end of laid trackI, Fig. 1, by means of hitch cable attached to the tractor `8. The cableis then thrown off the tractor and this is moved up to the dead end oftrack 2.

'I'he pick-up frame 2li-22 is now lowered onto the stack of ties on thedolly at the front end of the at car; the hold-down I4 having beenthrown off as the dolly is spotted. The tongs are now set by action ofline 43 to drum 45 and the left shift of the tappet 42, each tong takinga single tie by the ends. The tong carrying frame is now hoisted by itsbight 48 and the upswing of the boom and the tractor is backed awayenough to allow the pick-up frame to be lowered close to dead end oftrack .2 and position the first tie in the transferred tier near thedead end. The lowered frame registers the tappet cable eye 52 with anapposite hook 55 of drum 51 and at the same time the horns 24 conn-ectwith the foot of the boom.

The tractor is now backed away with the hitched frame and the drum 51 isturned in timed relation to tractor travel with the result that the tiesare dropped successively from the frame by shift of the tappet 42 to theright as cable 43 is wound onto drum 51; the ties being spaced apart onthe grade to a distance about equal to the length of the rail sectionbeing used on the spur.

As the last tie is dropped the clutch lever 62 is .thrown `by the tappet`42 Yand the drum is freed from its clutch 6I.

At the time that the pick-up frame is positioned on the dolly stack toget a tier of ties sets of tongs 10, on cable 1I from drum 12, are then.hitched to two rails in the rack on the flat car 4, and after the lasttie hasbeen placed on grade bed drum 61 is driven to haul in cable 66until one rail is dropped at the dead end of rail track I and until theother picked-up rail is laid at the dead end of track rail 2, Fig. 1.

The flat car 4 is moved ahead on the fresh placed rails as soon as theseare temporarily bridled in conventional manner without waiting for themto be spiked to the ties.

As the flat car is now again spotted the empty dolly is tumbled onto thefloor of the ilat car and the next full dolly is moved up to the front,the hold-down I4 is thrown olf the stack, and the boom 25 is lowered fora repeat of the operation.

By a reversal of several steps of the operation the rails and ties of aspur can be readily and quickly pulled up, placed in rack and stacks on`a flat car, and hauled to a new site of operation.

What is claimed is:

1. Rail track laying apparatus including means for spotting a stack ofparallel ties, and a tractor movable on grade bed ahead of the stack andhaving a gang of tongs for concurrently picking up a full tier of theties from the presented stack, and means including a control on thetractor for successively opening the tongs while the tractor is inmotion to drop the ties.

2. Rail track apparatus including means for spotting a stack of tiers ofparallel ties transverse to a road bed, a tractor movable on the roadbed ahead of the stack and having a gang of tongs complementary to thestack tiers and bodily shiftable as a. unit to transfer the tiers one byone from the stack, and means including controls on the tractor forclosing the tongs on the tier ties and for individually opening thetongs while the tractor is in motion to release the ties.

3. Rail track laying apparatus including means to spot a stack of tiersof ties transverse to a road bed, a tractor having means to pick up afull tier of ties from the stack and to transfer the tier to a givenpoint in such transverse order, and means connected to and operative bythe tractor to drop ties successively while the tractor is moving.

4. A tractor for operating on a railroad grade bed and having means topick up a full tier of ties from a stack and to bodily transfer the tierto a given point near the end of laid tracks and `including tongs forthe individual ties, and means to individually open the tongs to dropthe ties .to and along grade bed and being connected to,

.and operative by movement of, the tractor;

whereby to place the ties in given pitch.

5. Rail track laying apparatus including a tractor, and means carriedby, and operatively connected to, the tractor for picking a full tier ofties from a stack and including tractor actuated -means to individuallyrelease successive ties from the tier to drop them to grade bed, whilethe tractor is moving from the spotted stack; whereby to space the tiesfor rail support.

6. Rail track laying apparatus including a `tractor having a boom, meanscarried by the boom and having controls on the tractor for picking upthe topmost tier of a spotted stack of parallel ties, and meanscontrolled by movement of the tractor for releasing the ties insuccession from the pick-up means and causing them to be laid on gradein spaced relation.

7. Rail track laying apparatus including a tractor and means forspotting a stack of parallel ties in superposed tiers; said tractorhaving means to individually grip ak full tier of ties from the stack,means on the tractor for swinging the gripped ties to position abovegrade, and means operative by, and controlled by movement of, thetractor to individually release the ties at spaced positions along thegrade.

8. Track laying apparatus including a boom and its controls, a gang oftongs carried by the boom for picking up a full tier from a stack ofties to be bodily shifted by the boom, and means carrying the boom andhaving control means operative to open the tongs one at a time for therelease of the ties.

-9. Track laying apparatus including a boom and its controls, a gang oftongs and a support therefor carried and bodily shiftable by the boom,means mounted on said support and operative to close the tongsindividually on ties of a tier in a stack, and mechanical means foractuating the aforesaid means to open the tongs one at a time to releasethe ties concurrently with movement of the boom along a grade bed.

10. Track laying apparatus including means to pick up a tier oi ties,means to bodily shift the pick-up means and its load, and including afree tractor having means to effect individual release of, the ties insequence from,fand concurrently with movement of, the tractor means.

11. Track laying apparatus including means to individually grip parallelties of a tier and to bodily shift the gripped tier to a given point ona track grade, means to advance the gripping means along the grade, andmeans including a timing device to effect individual release of the tiesfrom the tier during such advance.

12. Tie handling means including a frame having a set of tongs, eachadapted to engage an individual tie at its ends in a tier of parallelties spaced identically with the spacing of the tongs, means mounted onthe frame for successively setting the tongs on the ties, and a controlmechanism for actuating said engaging mechanism.

13. Tie handling means for track laying including a frame having a setof tongs each spaced to engage contiguous ends of complementallyarranged, parallel ties in a tier, means mounted on the frame forsuccessively actuating the tongs and having a control mechanism to eiecteither the closing or the opening of the tongs by said means.

14. Tie placing means for track laying including a portable frame, a setof parallel tongs on the frame adapted to close upon the adjacent endsci parallel ties laid complementally to the tongs in a tier, meansmovable in one direction to close the tongs and in the oppositedirection to open them in succession, and a control mechanism foractuating said means.

15. Tie placing means for track laying including a portable frame, a setof tongs on the frame for gripping the ends of ties of a tier, means onthe frame for closing or for opening the tongs individually on ties, andmeans for timing opening action of the tongs during movement of theframe to effect spacing of the ties in a row.

16. Structure as set forth in claim 15, and including means for lockingthe tongs in tie gripping position.

17. Track laying means including a unitary frame having a set of tongsmounted therein with grip ends sliding in the frame, and meansoperatively mounted on the frame to close the tongs on a tier of ties;said tongs including means to compensate for tie length variation.

13. Means to impale and transport a tier of parallel ties including aportable frame having a set of parallel tongs having gripping shankssliding in the frame and each adapted to grip an adjacent tie by itsends, a mechanism on the frame to close or to open the tongs insuccession, means to individually lock each tong in closed position, andmeans in each tong tc compensate the tongs to length Variation.

19. A gang of tongs having yieldable, connected hooks in pairs adaptedto impale ends of a tier of parallel ties, means for closing all thepairs of hooks to provide for concurrent lift of the tier, and a controlmechanism including means for effecting successive individual opening ofthe hook pairs to release their ties by the aforesaid means.

20. Track laying apparatus including a boom, a pick-up frame suspendedby the boom, means on the frame to grip a tier of ties, means to closethe gripping means, means to effect releasing action of the grippingmeans, and guide means for positioning the frame on the boom andinterlocking it therewith for interconnection of the grip closing meansand the said release effecting means.

21. The track laying method including building a stack of tiers ofclose, parallel ties and building a rack of rails contiguous to the tiestack, spotting the rack and the stack on a laid track end, hitching acable onto a plurality of the rails in the rack, bodily picking up atier of the ties from the stack, moving the picked-up tier bodily overto rail grade at said track end and suspending the tier above and movingit along the grade and dropping one tie at a time during such movementin spaced relation along the grade to receive rails, and lifting andmoving forward and then dropping the hitched rails in broken jointrelation onto the dropped ties.

22. Spotting a rack of parallel rails and a stack of tiers of close,parallel ties at the dead end of a laid track, moving a vehicle up tothe dead end and hitching a cable from the vehicle onto a pair of therails, lowering a pick-up means from the vehicle onto and picking up thetopmost tier of ties from the stack, positively positioning thepicked-up tier as to the vehicle, backing the vehicle from the said deadend while suspending the tier above grade, successively dropping byvehicle actuated mechanism the suspended ties along grade from the deadend, and then pulling the hitched rails over and dropping them in brokenjoint relation onto the dropped rail receiving ties.

23. In a track laying method, picking up a tier of parallel ties, movingit to and suspending it over grade bed at the dead end of a laid track,bodily moving the suspended tier along grade and successively droppingits ties in spaced, transverse relation along grade from the said deadend during said second movement.

ROY STAUFFER.

